North East modular housebuilder CoreHaus has teamed up with a County Durham-based college to recruit, train and develop the region's next generation of skilled construction professionals.
Working closely with Derwentside College, CoreHaus has developed a bespoke apprenticeship programme that will enable young people to learn new, modern methods of construction, gaining work-ready skills for today’s building and construction sector.
With latest figures revealing that the North East saw a 27% drop in the number of apprenticeship starts over the last two years and job vacancies across the UK at a record high, the skill shortage challenge is becoming greater, with construction in particular facing a talent drought. CoreHaus plans to create a CoreHaus Academy that will train up to 15 young people per year with the aim of offering them a full-time job when training is completed. Once this is up and running, the company plans to at least double its number of apprentices year on year.
Apprentices Matthew Watson and Amber Raine have started a Level 2 Construction and Assembly Operative Course at Derwentside College, spending one day a week there learning core modular housing skills and the remaining four days on site at CoreHaus.
Scott Bibby, managing director of CoreHaus, said: “The level of progress our apprentices Matthew and Amber have made in the space of just a few short months has been tremendous, and we look forward to seeing them grow further with CoreHaus over the coming years.
“Our vision is to transform new build housing delivery and to achieve this we need to bring about positive change. “A fundamental aspect of this is to find and develop a new generation of construction professionals that we can train, develop and demonstrate how housebuilding can be approached differently whilst providing the right type of environment and support structure they need to succeed.”
During their onsite training, apprentices are engaged in the range of operations and procedures, learning about the whole spectrum of new build housing and the processes involved.
Amber Raine, 20, an apprentice at CoreHaus, said: “I’m loving every aspect of my course and working at CoreHaus is amazing. I have learnt so many things already and each day is different.
“It’s great going into college to gain the knowledge I need to work in modular construction and then working at CoreHaus carrying out interesting tasks and being part of a team who are building affordable and sustainable homes for people across the region.”
A social enterprise company, CoreHaus is committed to creating job opportunities and providing expert training to local people to help the organisation achieve its goals but also inspire a whole new generation to join a growing and rapidly changing sector that provides a wide range of job roles and specialisms.
Lianne Marston, senior business development consultant at Derwentside College, said: “We work with various different organisations to help them with their workforce needs, developing bespoke training programmes that not only help our students but meet the requirements of businesses too.
“The construction course we’ve created in partnership with CoreHaus offers a great opportunity to learn a vast range of skills and expertise required to work in modern day construction.
“Our apprentices are making real progress and it’s great to see how much they’re benefiting from on the-job experience.”
